Of A Witch's Affairs

Of First Impressions

Theresa loved the smell of mud, not the brackish, vile slosh you find in your gutters after a good storm mind you, but the earthy scent of freshly dampened soil. Perhaps it was another quirk she had inherited from Greema, the old goblin witch who had taught Theresa her trade, or maybe it came from the half forgotten memories of Theresa's father, who had taken her fishing when it rained while he was still well.

Regardless of where it came from, that love served her well in finding Redtop Billies, a mushroom brilliant for pain relief and luck spells. This was her goal today, wandering through the woodlands that bordered both the village of Ankerfell and the garden of her little cottage.

Letting her nose lead the way, Theresa came to the site of a fallen pine, it's massive girth rotting beneath the somber gaze of it's fellow trees. Under the wood however, moisture gathered from the week of near constant showers and fungus had begun to sprout. Her electric blue eyes sparked when they alighted on the titanic trunk's underside.

"Jackpot." Muttered the witch, clenching her fist in victory, for all along the side of the fallen giant were peppered those scarlet toadstools. Bending down and gathering them in heaps, she began stuffing her pockets, making a mental note to bring a basket next time with a small giggle.

"Excuse me miss, are you alright?"

Theresa, who had moments ago been laughing softly, who was now kneeling in the mud, her hands and pockets filled to the brim with mushrooms, turned to give a reassuring smile to the young woman who had crept up upon her. "I'm fine, just gathering some ingredients."

"The toadstools?" Came the red haired girl's incredulous response, a single slim eyebrow raising slowly. Theresa didn't recognize her, so she was undoubtedly a newcomer to the village.

The raven haired witch nodded. "Yes."

"And you're going to use them for what, a stew?" The redhead was smirking now, her freckled hands clasped innocently before her. "Perhaps as a garnish for the rabbit you have tucked away in your bodice?"

Theresa snorted, rising up and brushing some of the leaves and mud from her emerald dress. "No, I was going to us them for a luck charm, perhaps even as the core for a pain remedy."

The girl had stopped smiling somewhere between "Luck charm" and "Core"

"Wait... You're the village witch? That can't be right, witches are all hideous crones. Besides I thought that the witch here was some old greenskin hag?"

Theresa scowled, pushing past the rude girl in a sudden desire to be rid of her. "You're talking about Greema, my teacher. She died after centuries of trying to keep people like you alive and now I wonder if it was worth it."

Unfortunately, the freckled interloper was faster than Theresa, probably because she wore trousers and a soft leather jerkin, making it far easier for her to move quickly. "Okay, I'm sorry if I caused offense, it's just that I don't meet many witches without grey hair and wrinkles, let alone one my age!" She moved to stand before the witch again, but a flick of the wrist sent her stumbling to the side, only for her to pivot nimbly and fall in step once more. "Tell me how to make up for it and I'll do it."

Theresa sighed explosively. "Learn when to give up." A click of her fingers and the red haired girl fell, fast asleep and likely to stay that way for an hour or two while the witch made her escape.

...................................................................................

The next morning Theresa found a package at the foot of her door when she turned the sign on it from "The last person who disturbed me eats flies now." to "Come in if you think it's worth the risk."

Taking it inside, she swept it for curses and hexes, for the coven over the hill had taken to sending her letters that would turn her skin orange after she stole some of their business away.

The package did not contain any malicious intent though, so she unwrapped the brown paper to find a mountain of Redtop Billies and two notes, the larger one labeled "Read first" and it hid the second until being lifted from the package.

Within it she found the crude writing of someone desperately trying to remember what letters were meant to look like.

"Miss Theresa,

Mom told me that's your name, I'm sorry for how I treated you yesterday, I tend to forget that people this far north have different ideas about what and who is normal.

My dad didn't much like magicfolk on account of their secrecy, but mom says that isn't how people here think. Maybe I'm wrong for thinking like dad...
I thought you'd like these toadstools, since you seemed rather keen on them yesterday and it's only fair that I got them for you after interrupting.

I hope you and I don't start off on the wrong foot, maybe I can help the next time you go looking for things in the forest? Dad was a hunter, before the bear got him, so I know my way around the woods and I can be silent if that will make you feel better about it, about me.

Please forgive me,

Julia."

Theresa was incredulous. Certainly the villagers here respected The Craft more than those down south, but she had never received letters from them outside of business. Picking up the second envelope, Theresa smirked a little at the obvious effort placed in making sure it was hidden behind the larger one.

"P.S. That thing I said about witches being ugly? Obviously that was a mistake. If you're what witches look like up here then I have never been more wrong in my life."

WELL.

At least now Theresa knew why she had hidden that particular missive from casual observers.

Considering the gift, then thinking back on Julia's soft brown eyes and smiling lips, Theresa hunted down a piece of paper and wrote five short, neat words on it, before entrusting it to her favorite raven for delivery.

"At the log, noon tomorrow."